A truck driver elected to come before Griffith Local Court after being caught by the Roads and Maritime Services tailgating twice in a matter of months.
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Anthony Wright, 48, from Merriwagga, represented by Piers Blomfield, outlined his reasons for why these offences were out of character, with the tales outlining how the driver in front had actually been at fault, both times.
And yet magistrate Joy Boulos found it "difficult to believe" both incidents were caused by someone else.
The court heard how the first tailgating incident in Forbes in February was caused by the truck in front traveling well below the speed limit.
Wright went to overtake, and the other truck sped up immediately making it impossible for him to continue, and instead made him brake "dramatically".
When he saw the heavy vehicle average speed cameras, he slowed even further, which Mr Blomfield argued meant their purpose was served.
He asked the magistrate to consider the two incidents separately, as the other incident, occurring in March in Singleton, as the traffic conditions were also difficult to keep the required 60 meters behind.
He said the second incident occurred around 2.30pm on a Sunday, and explained how the traffic was backed up, making it extremely difficult to maintain that much distance between the vehicle in front.
"2.30pm on a Sunday?" Ms Boulos queried. "I know why he has elected to come to court... he is at risk of losing his license."
Mr Blomfield said he had never had an offence of this kind before, and was the sole bread-winner for his family.
Prosecutor for the RMS, Nicholas Wordsworth, noted he hasn't come to the attention of the RMS before. Yet the magistrate said he didn't have what she would call a clean traffic history, with heavy vehicle offences in 2006, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
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"An explanation has been provided, however I find it difficult to believe there was a vehicle at fault in front on both occasions.
Each year in NSW, more than 10,000 rear-end crashes are reported, with a higher number going unreported because no one is injured. Rear-end collisions constitute around 40 percent of all reported crashes when it comes to experienced drivers, according to the RMS.
Magistrate Boulos exercised discretion with the first case, yet convicted him of the second and slapped him with a $1346 fine, with $200 in costs to be paid to the RMS.
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